Monday, July 30, 2012

Victor Juhasz, one of the illustrators I have had the privilege of knowing and drawing with on the Society of Illustrators trips to Walter Reed, just posted a bunch of drawings and observations from his embed last summer in Afghanistan. He spent two weeks with the Alaskan 1-52nd Arctic Dustoff as well as with members of Alpha Company 7-101 from Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. See the whole thing on his Drawger blog post. I'm absolutely floored and awe-inspired.

Friday, July 27, 2012

It's happening! "Slowly by slowly" as Yoko Furusho once said to me. It's funny whose voice you hear when it's late and the window is open and there's just you and a quiet mess unraveling in front of you.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Diane Gibbs (Little Bird Communications) hosts a weekly Spreecast episode called Design Recharge, where she interviews artists, illustrators and designers about their working process, staying unstuck, and navigating the business of being creative. I met Diane in Mobile, Alabama when I was attending school at the University of South Alabama. She is an incredible, inspiring, and contagiously enthusiastic person.

Diane interviewed me about making comics and getting my work out there, and we talked about what inspires us to make good work. You can watch the full episode here. On her next episode (Wednesday July 25th at 2pm EST) she discusses the transition between freelance to full time--a great topic I am looking forward to hearing more about.

While working hard at cartooning and making comic books, I also work full time for a science photo agency that specializes in shooting material for textbooks (Fundamental Photographs). For an artist trying to make it in New York City, these people make possible what would be impossible alone. Thank you Kip and Richard for being a wonderful presence in my life and rooting me on (and for reading my blog)!

Monday, July 16, 2012

This is a ten page piece I made for J.T. Yost's food and eating based comics anthology, Digestate. I am super excited about it. You can read it in its entirety here but I recommend getting a copy of the book, because it is full of awesome contributors (see here). I think it's due out in September and will be debuting at SPX.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Been working hard on this chicken comic for the Digestate anthology. My original story idea involving Blaine and his cow adventures wasn't really working and I had to abandon that idea. A few weeks ago I talked with a man I had met at the Just Food Intro to Chicken Keeping workshop this past spring, Greg Anderson. It turns out he and his wife run a community garden (with chickens!) that is not very far from me. They were a lot of fun to speak with and got me to think about personal impact on a community over time. Staying in one place, digging in and working hard will eventually bear fruit. And chickens! Here's a preview of the first three (of ten) pages.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Here's an excerpt from an email I just received from the Atlantic Center for the Arts:

Dear Jessica Ruliffson,

Congratulations!
We are delighted to inform you of your acceptance as an Associate Artist at Atlantic Center for the Arts’
October 8 –October 28, 2012 residency session with Master Artist Dean Haspiel.
We are looking forward to hosting you. Throughout the three week
residency, you will meet within your discipline with your respective
Master Artist, with the daytime
and evenings open for interdisciplinary interaction and collaboration,
in addition to the opportunity to work on personal projects and goals.

Portfolio and Contact

Jess is a New York City based freelance illustrator and nonfiction graphic novelist. She is currently working on a comic book based on interviews with veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. This is her blog where you can track her work in progress and chat about making comics, printmaking, drawing and painting.